School boards should cut pay

Sunday

Feb 22, 2009 at 12:01 AM

As Florida school districts face the most pressing financial crisis in modern history, an opportunity has once again surfaced that would help level the playing field of school governance with the other 49 states.

Providing salaries for school board members goes much deeper than the money that would be saved by compensating Florida school policy-makers at a rate similar to other states.

In counties across Florida, school board members are being asked to consider legislative action passed in Tallahassee last month to "reduce their salary rate on a voluntary basis."

This would permit them to share in the sacrifice of budget cuts experienced by teachers, support staff and administrators by lowering their previously state-mandated salaries to a level that would nonetheless continue to place them in the top 2 percent of highest paid board members, on average, in the country.

The initial bill proposed by Sen. Steve Wise, R-Jacksonville, would have cut school board salaries 5 percent, consistent with the reduction lawmakers adopted for themselves in 2008.

Salaries of Florida school board members range from a whopping $36,000 to over $40,000, completely out of line with county school board member salaries in other states.

Florida board members also receive medical insurance, retirement and other benefits usually reserved for full-time professional and support staff.

It is an anomaly that many newly arrived Florida taxpaying residents can't begin to comprehend.

Why should school board members be paid higher than many teachers for what should be a civic responsibility?

In a vast majority of states, service performed by unpaid board members is considered "giving back to the community."

Florida uniquely has had a tradition of state-set board salaries, keyed to enrollment levels in the 67 countywide districts.

A few years ago, Florida lawmakers decided to allow the boards to establish their own pay as an attempt to embarrass the members into coming into line. When it did not work, the Legislature returned to setting the salaries.

Perhaps it will work now.

The real problem with a salaried board is that the money received encourages board members to spend more "time on the job" than governance and policy development responsibilities require, thereby leading to instances of micro-managing or meddling with the work of trained professionals hired to run the classrooms, ancillary services and schools.

The tasks of developing policies, if done correctly, should take only a few hours a month.

Floridians are justifiably proud of the many world class universities, colleges and health centers. The many unsalaried board members of these institutions are highly qualified, meet infrequently and hire top executives they recruit and evaluate.

By contrast, Florida's public school districts continue to lead the nine most populous states in student dropout rates, while trailing these states in college entrance examination results, norm-referenced tests and graduation rates.

At the same time, we have the highest paid board members and the highest pay is going to members in Florida's lowest-performing districts.

Local school board members should model themselves after effective university board members by setting realistic policies, goals and objectives as volunteers.

William L. Bainbridge, Ph.D., of St. Augustine, is distinguished research professor at the University of Dayton's SchoolMatch Institute, a national educational auditing, research and data organization.

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